NEW YORK - Florence, Italy, has replaced Sydney, Australia, as the No. 1 city in the world for travelers, according to Travel+Leisure's annual "World's Best" awards.

The list of award-winners is based on an annual survey of 23,000 readers who provided evaluations for nearly 500,000 destinations, hotels, airlines, and other travel entitites.Sydney came in at No. 4 on this year's list of best cities. Rome was second, and two cities in Thailand - Bangkok and Chiang Mai - were third and fifth.Beirut, Lebanon, appeared in the top 10 list for the first time - at No. 9. The survey was conducted before fighting broke out between Israel and Lebanon.New York City was named best city in America for the sixth consecutive year, while JetBlue Airways ranked first among domestic airlines for the first time in survey history.Singita Private Game Reserve in South Africa won for the world's best hotel, an award it also won in 2004.Best large-ship cruise line was Crystal Cruises, while the survey named Yachts of Seabourn as the best small-ship cruise line. The award for best international airline went to Singapore Airlines, while best car-rental agency went to Hertz.The Inn at Montchanin Village in Montchanin, Del., was named the world's best hotel in the $250 or less category, while the Inverlochy Castle in Fort William, Scotland, won for Europe's best hotel. The Aerie in Malahat on Vancouver Island in Canada was named No. 1 among continental U.S. and Canadian hotels.The list appears in the magazine's August issue and is also available online at http://www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest